Practical Tips for Better On-Page Search Engine Optimisation

Recently, there has been a transition from focusing on keyword placement to more advanced practices of topic targeting, and implementing these concepts into the content. While it’s not easy to estimate semantic relationships and thematic occurrences, there are a number of simple steps you can take to create optimized content:

Keyword research is still the foundational base.

Even though strict individual keywords are no longer enough to base your content optimization on, everything starts with good keyword research. You need to know what keywords you should focus on, the relative competition around them, and how often are they searched for. The ultimate goal is to associate your content with the keywords people put into their search box.

Research topics and themes.

Moving on from researching single keywords, you should aim for themes and topics around target keywords. Analyse and identify secondary keywords related to each core keyword. For example, when your topic surfaces in conversations, what words do people use? What are the features and its characteristics? Utilize supporting keyword phrases to build content around your core topic.

Answer as many questions as you can.

Great content provides answers, and semantically relevant content reflects this. Ranking high in search results for a specific keyword means that your content answers the question best. As you structure your content around topics and themes, make sure you offer a better user experience than the competition to maintain a high ranking spot.

Use natural language and variations.

As you research keywords, it’s helpful to brainstorm common ways users refer to your industry or product, and don’t shy away from including laymen terms in your content when appropriate. Semantic keyword research is often invaluable to this process.

Place your most valuable content in the most important sections.

Don’t use distracting elements like footers and sidebars for important content. Avoid trying to gain some points with search engines via fancy CSS or JavaScript tricks. Your most valuable content should go in the sections with the highest visibility and accessibility.

Structure your content properly.

Important on-page elements like headers, paragraphs, lists, and tables all confer structure to content. This makes it clear for search engines what topic you are covering and improves readability for users. A clear webpage contains structure similar to a good essay. Use proper introductions, conclusions, topics organized into paragraphs, spelling and grammar, and cite your sources.

Ultimately, improving your content and making it easier to be understood does not require anything technologically advanced. Write for humans and not specifically for search engines, and your content goes a long way in becoming optimized for search engines.